Usain Bolt has sprinting record taken from him as World Athletics consider controversial rule change

 

 

Usain Bolt has had one of his most sprinting records taken from him as the World Athletics pond a controversial change to the track.

 

Bolt is the fastest man alive over both 100m and 200m and has eight Olympic gold medals to his name as well as a slew of records.

 

His insane world record time of 9.58 seconds, set in Berlin at the World Athletics Championships in 2009, has been well out of reach for any other sprinter that has come along.

 

 

 

Despite Noah Lyles and Gout Gout being mentioned, Bolt himself has said that compatriot Oblique Seville, coached by his former trainer is the one capable of usurping him one day.

 

However, last week, South African sprinter Akani Simbine recorded a hugely impressive achievement which knocked Bolt off his perch.

 

He became the first sprinter to run sub-10 seconds in the 100m for 11 years on the trot. Bolt managed it for a decade but Simbine, a silver medalist with South Africa in the Paris Olympics, has now achieved the feat for an extra year.

 

Simbine did it at the Botswana Grand Prix, where he clocked in at a world-leading 2025 time of 9.90 seconds in the 100m race.

 

 

 

However, that could be about to change in the near future after it was claimed that the Jamaican sensation’s record could be beaten if a ‘super track’ is approved by the World Athletics.

 

Alvina Chen, a Hong Kong-born sprinter, is the brains behind the the world’s first digital ‘smart’ track, which is expected to be “20 per cent faster than the Paris Olympic track”.

 

Feldspar chief Chen believes that with the huge advancements, “early nine seconds if not sub nine seconds for a human” is possible on “the world’s fastest running surface” – therefore eclipsing Bolt.

 

Usain Bolt is comfortably the fastest man alive. Image: Getty

Usain Bolt is comfortably the fastest man alive.

 

The idea has spawned from a laboratory near Cambridge, with sensors around the track providing ‘a raft of real-time data’,

 

It’s said that “positive talks” have been held with World Athletics and Bolt’s long-time rival and second fastest man in history, Tyson Gay, has weighed in with his verdict.

 

On an Instagram posted shared by co-designers Feldspar, he wrote: “Looking forward to seeing the development of this… pretty awesome.”

 

Former British sprinter Darren Campbell is involved in the development, having joined Feldspar as their Global Track Strategy Director in September 2024.